Title: Meet the Lord
Contents Joshua 5:13-15 Let's Meet the Lord 2009. 9. 20
Life is an encounter. Meeting with parents Meeting with spouse, meeting with brothers and sisters, and meeting in various communities. Among these encounters, ‘who do you meet’ brings a very important value in life. In conclusion, meeting good people in life is definitely a blessing. There is a saying in the church that is like a saying.
“The wandering of life ends when we meet Jesus, and the wandering of faith ends when we meet a good church.”
That's a really good phrase. If you repeat this phrase over and over again
It makes us think deeply about how important our role is.
What is a good church?
There is a good church in the Munjeong-dong shopping district. A church with a good signage.
Is it a good church, a good name church? Or, is a clean and colorful church a good church?
A good church is “a church where all the members of the church are gathered together to love God, to love the soul, and to strive to live by the Word is a good church.”
For this reason, we must all serve one another with fear and trembling, and respect and love each other in Christ in order to form a good church. A good church does not exist in any local church, it is ‘made by me’. A good church is being made through me.
People who do not know Jesus at all are good Jesus through me. It's about finding a good church. Therefore, our responsibility is bound to be great.
There are not necessarily only blessed encounters in life's encounters.
There are encounters that have an adverse effect, there are encounters that exploit them, and there are encounters of struggle for interests and struggles.
There are always encounters that only cost you money. These encounters shake your life and make you wander. But on the other hand, there are the most precious and blessed encounters.
It is meeting the living God, the everlasting God, the God who loved us and generously gave his only begotten Son.
An encounter with God is the most valuable and most valuable encounter in life. The more we meet, the more there is no loss and only benefits. It is always new, always mysterious, and always moving.
It will be the comfort of everything.
That is why I long to meet with Jesus, who gives a great impression every day, and I pray that you and I will always walk with the Lord every day.
First, we meet in the field of ministry.
Joshua practiced circumcision according to the word of God and kept the Passover. And as he commanded, he approached the city of Jericho. When you follow the word of God, you will meet someone.
Verse 13) When Joshua came near Jericho, he lifted up his eyes and stood facing him. Joshua went and asked him, Are you for us or for our enemies?
Joshua must fight the greatest battle of his life. How heavy and hard must his heart must have been before the war? Sometimes there must have been fear. However, Joshua stopped thinking personally and met the manifested God when he went to Jericho. Verse 14) And he said, No, I am now the captain of the LORD's army.
When it is most appropriate, when it is most needed / when fear and earnestness come upon us, Joshua meets God. No, strictly speaking, God met Joshua.
As it was getting dark, Jesus told his disciples to get into the boat and go to the other side first. And Jesus went up the mountain to pray. As Jesus commanded, the disciples got wet and crossed the river. But then we met a huge storm. The ship is on the verge of breaking, and the fear of death has come. At this time, the disciples saw something. He saw Jesus standing on the water. Seeing that the obedient and departed disciples were in trouble, Jesus walked on the water as a supernatural miracle. Then he gets on the boat and speaks to the waves and the wind. “Wave, wind, calm down” The disciples that Jesus met found peace through the rain.
It can be said that all believers who go out into the world are missionaries of God.
I am a minister because I have to live a life of light and salt in the community at work, in the academy.
We must preach the gospel to unbelievers, pray for the sick, and do alms and goodness, which is also called ministry.
Sometimes you have different fears in the world. What if I lose my job at this company?
What if this goes wrong? Various things can cause anxiety and fear.
But it is important to remember that God wants to help us.
It means that people who live obediently to the Word in the field of ministry will never be left alone. Jesus spoke boldly. “I will always be with you until the end of the world”
Therefore, we hold on to the faithful word of the Lord and say, “Lord, I have a clear mission to do in this job.” “Lord, I have a clear mission to expand the kingdom of God through this work”. Lord, I have a work to be done for you right now. You have to boldly ask and move on.
If you go step by step in faith, you will meet the leader of Jehovah's army. It is the encounter with God who will help us.
Second, we meet when we give up and entrust everything.
Before Jacob was born, I had a strong desire to win from my mother's womb. His name was called Jacob, the deceiver. When Jacob was born, he met his father, mother, and his older brother Esau. As he grew up, he deceived his mother and older brother, deceived his father, and received the blessing of the eldest son.
It seemed to succeed with this, but only for a very short time. Only the wrath of his father and brother was provoked, and in the end he became a fugitive.
He barely stays with his uncle Laban, but his uncle Laban was a more deceitful man than himself. They worked to death, and earned little income. Eventually, Jacob and his family run away into the night. But the difficulties continue. Her daughter Dina is raped, and her two sons commit horrific murders. The neighboring nations rise up and try to attack Jacob's family. At this time, Jacob confessed all his sins and knelt before God. And he wrestles with God all night long. That is, we earnestly pray to God.
As a result, Jacob met God there and received the name of Israel, the mother of all nations, not Jacob the deceiver.
The same goes for Daniel's three friends. With the belief that it will not be so, he entrusts his everything to God and chooses death. Thank you for saving me, and even if not, I serve only God. Even if we give up everything or even our own life, our faith that holds only God will be saved from the fire. Witnesses at the time say: There were obviously three people who were thrown into the fire, but I saw four people who were not bound. One of them is like a son of God (Daniel 3:24). God is still with me and us.
God: You live to be 100!!
Woman: Really?
So that woman had plastic surgery right away in order to live a beautiful life. But the woman died the very day she had the plastic surgery. The woman who came to heaven asked.
Woman: I'm 20 now, so why did I die? Why did you lie?
God: I didn't know!!
The manifested God is with us as the Holy Spirit. He gives grace to those who depend on God until the end by entrusting them to God in God's way, not man's, in their own circumstances.
Third, you will meet someone you love.
One of the characteristics of children is that when they have something they want, they say it over and over until they get it. In some cases, they sit on the ground and roll around. Most fathers will eventually listen. The reason is that the longing of a child moves the hearts of the parents.
Proverbs 8:17 “I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently will find me.”
Joshua, who experienced God's love and miracles through the 40 years of her wilderness life, crossing the Jordan River, circumcision, and the Passover, had no choice but to rely entirely on God before the war with Jericho. “I can't. God be with you. Relying on the Word of God and walking toward Jericho with faith. God help me.” At this time, I met the commander of God's army, who was fully armed.
Hezekiah, who was stricken with disease, could not give up like this. He trusted God completely. Relying on the words of Exodus 15:26, “I am the Lord who heals you”, I prayed toward the wall. Seeing a wall means 'to rely entirely on God's grace, not man's method.' When looking to God and longing for His healing, God healed him and prolonged his life by 15 years. .
Madam - As I prayed, I began to record in my diary the conditions of thanksgiving piece by piece. 100 and 200. God's grace was so great and I was grateful. Although my body was drying up, I was grateful for God's grace and shared the grace with my fellow students. The fervent grace of the Holy Spirit was given while the church members also prayed with one heart and shared grace. Little by little, appetite returned, and health returned little by little. When I went back to the hospital, the cancer mass was completely gone. “Doctors clearly cannot explain this with modern medicine. It is a miracle.” God's miracle will come to those who yearn for it and give thanks through faith today.
A woman suffering from bleeding for 12 years - longing that just touching the hem of Jesus' robe would be healed
Zacchaeus, the tax collector, climbed the mulberry tree in longing to see Jesus.
They also met Jesus through longing and experienced miracles.
Faith in longing for the Lord every day.
The faith that always puts effort into prayer, always puts effort into worship, always puts effort into singing, and always striving for evangelism is the faith that longs for the Lord.
We must meet the Lord every moment.
The harder it is, the more difficult it is to meet the Lord.
When we meet the Lord, we are given grace, we are moved, and we are given joy and thanks.
When you meet the Lord, a turning point in your life occurs and changes are given to your life.
I will be praying for the Church and for you this week with more longing for the Lord.
I hope that you too, put everything down, look only at the Lord, and yearn for the Lord.
For those of you who earnestly seek the Lord, the Lord will meet you.
Praise to sing together.